CVE-2025-64518
CycloneDX Core (Java): BOM validation is vulnerable to XML External Entity injection
Description
### Impact The XML [`Validator`](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/javax/xml/validation/Validator.html) used by cyclonedx-core-java was not configured securely, making the library vulnerable to XML External Entity (XXE) injection. The fix for GHSA-683x-4444-jxh8 / CVE-2024-38374 has been incomplete in that it only fixed *parsing* of XML BOMs, but not *validation*. ### Patches The vulnerability has been fixed in cyclonedx-core-java version 11.0.1. ### Workarounds If feasible, applications can reject XML documents before handing them to cyclonedx-core-java for validation. This may be an option if incoming CycloneDX BOMs are known to be in JSON format. ### References * The issue was introduced via https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/commit/162aa594f347b3f612fe0a45071693c3cd398ce9 * The issue was fixed via https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-core-java/pull/737 * https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/XML_External_Entity_Prevention_Cheat_Sheet.html#schemafactory
How to fix CVE-2025-64518
To remediate CVE-2025-64518, upgrade the affected package to a fixed version below.
- —upgrade to 11.0.1 or later
Is CVE-2025-64518 being exploited?
Low — EPSS is 0.1%, meaning exploitation activity has not been observed at scale.
Affected packages (1)
- >= 2.1.0, < 11.0.1
CVSS scores
| Source | Version | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| osv | CVSS 3.1 | HIGH7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |